HUMANITARIAN PROTECTION IN WARS OF NATIONAL LIBERATION: A REPLY
In: Arms control: the journal of arms control and disarmament, Band 8, Heft 1, S. 49-51
ISSN: 0144-0381
THE AUTHOR OF THIS PAPER, A THEOLOGIAN, TAKES ISSUE WITH HEATHER WILSON'S STATEMENT THAT "WARS OF NATIONAL LIBERATION ARE INTERNATIONAL WARS." HE SEES THIS VIEW AS AN EXAMPLE CLOSE TO LIBERATION THEOLOGY, IN WHICH SELF-DETERMINATION HAS A CLAIM TO THEOLOGICAL LEGITIMACY. HE POINTS OUT THAT SUCH WARS OFTEN AWAKEN INTENSE NATIONALISTIC FEELINGS WHICH CAN COME INTO CONFLICT WITH EACH OTHER. FOR EXAMPLE, PEACE-KEEPING FORCES ARE ATTACKED, OR HOSTAGES ARE TAKEN AS A MEANS OF POWER. HE POINTS TO THE LACK OF PROTOCOL IN OBSERVING DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY AND THE INEFFECTIVENESS OF ECONOMIC SANCTIONS AS AN EXPRESSION OF INTERNATIONAL DISAPPROVAL, ALONG WITH THE ECONOMIC INEQUALITIES OF NATIONS AND THE DEPLOYMENT OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS AS OTHER ADVERSE FACTORS AFFECTING THE ACHIEVEMENT OF INTERNATIONAL ACCORD. THE AUTHOR FORESEES NO REAL PROGRESS IN THE PURSUIT OF COLLECTIVE SECURITY UNTIL SUCH IDEOLOGICAL AND RELIGIOUS ISSUES AS ARE POSED BY THE ABOVE PHENOMENA ARE IDENTIFIED AND THE PROBLEMS THEY POSE SOLVED.